Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. First, in response to the Deputy's question about the additional offices, maybe that is something I could come back to him on. As Members will be aware, our passport offices have been closed except for emergency passports that are bring processed at the moment. As of this week, our online passport facility has been opened. There is a backlog that the officials are working on. As of this week, we have 520 staff who are now back working to try to process those as quickly as possible. As the Deputy can imagine, for any Department or company, that is a huge amount of people. We are thankful for them and for the work that they are doing. I certainly will come back to the Deputy on the specific question.

In terms of the Mercosur deal, this is obviously something that has been ongoing for some time. We and all other member states are now examining the agreement that was reached. This will take some time to see the implications, not only for the agricultural sector but for all other industries as well. We will come back with our own response and reflections on that as quickly as possible.

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